Pandora's Jar
by zuzuthezombie
Summary: They told her not to open it. They really did. But curiosity killed the cat, and Humans seem to have the strongest brand. Kate is about to find out what it's like to be Pandora. Mild Kaynie. T for violence, a bit of blood, and mild swearing.
1. Chapter 1

**This is the (official) remake of my stor**** The Djinn's Puzzle. This is just the prologue, so if people like this enough I'll put the first actual chapter up. ~ |: zuzu**

A boy sat inside an almost bare room. His clothes were in tatters, and he was filthy. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and you could see a long, thin, pale scar running diagonally accross his stomach. The building he was in was filled with heat, filtering in through the broken windows. The room was bare, except for a hard bed, a tiolet, and a sink. He stood up shakily, stumbling over to the only window, he stuck his head out. There was no breeze today, and even the sea below was almost still. From what he could see, Stonetown was still, too, most likely indoors, trying to escape the heat wave. He panted, wheezing, then coughed, then let go of the sill and slumped to the floor. He had used up all his energy. He hadn't eaten in days. The door banged open, and a man walked in. He was wearing a short-sleeved button up shirt, khaki shorts, and brown flip-flops. The spicy scent of his colonge wafted in with him.

"Get, up boy!" He snapped, snapping his fingers at the person on the floor. The boy coughed again, then pulled himself up. Impatient, the man stalked over and grabbed his shoulder, right on the tattoo that read J.A.S. in big letters. He shoved him roughly out of the room, down several flights of stairs, then outside. The scorching concrete burned the boy's bare feet as he was pushed along. They reached a grassy area, then went behind some boulders. The man kicked the largest one, and the front slid up. They walked quickly through a series of twisting cooridoors, going through several doors. Eventually they arrived in a room with a metal table and chair. On the table lay some lined paper, a pencil, some markers, a pen, and a black Sharpie.

"Ohhh, no! Do I gotta write another letter?" the teenager moaned, looking at the man.

"Yes! Now sit down! This one's to- Argh!" the man yelped as the kid grabbed the Sharpie, jumped on top of him, and began to write the word "Sharpie" on his forehead. He eventually pushed him off. He stood up, smoothing out his clothes and dusting them off. "Sit down!" he pointed at the chair.

"Okay, okay!" the younger of the two laughed, sliding into the metal chair. He picked up the pencil. "Who's this one to?"

"I WAS telling you, but you so RUDELY interrupted me-"

The boy was looking at him. "Hey, a Sharpie for Sharpe! I think I'll call you Sharpie from now on!" he laughed, leaning over and pressing his sweaty forehead against the cool metal, still laughing almost hysterically.

The man smirked wickedly. "Please shush, Jasmine."

The boy sitting down stopped laughing. "Don't call me that!"

"I'll stop calling you Jasmine when you stop calling me Sharpie. Do we have a deal, duckie?"

"Sure." the boy rolled his eyes. "What do I gotta write?"

Sharpe began. "Write as follows: Dear Kate..."


	2. Chapter II

**Yes, here's the second chapter! It's short, I know, but I wanted to have a cliffie. The cover is Johann. I would also love to know what you think of my OCs. Love 'em, hate 'em? ~ |: zuzu**

"- Now write your cell phone number on the bottom." Sharpe finished. When the boy was done, he extended his hand to read the note. "Good. When she calls, you're going to go over to her house."

"What if she never calls?"

"If it's from you she'll call. Now, Codger, if you succeed with this mission we'll let your little lady friend go. We're training you to be a Ten Man, and if you don't do this will never let her go, do you understand me? Fass, Ford, and Gianni are being trained as well. Fass and Ford will go with you, Gianni will stay behind. Any questions?"

"Yes." Codger said. "First, (well, it's not really a question) my name's not Codger, it's Johann. Second, who are Fass, Ford, and Gianni?"

"Your brothers and your friend. We told you this before; get it into your empty head!" Sharpe snarled.

Johann tipped his head to the side. "Soooo... lemme get this straight: Fass and Ford are Erich and Hansi, and Gianni is Mordecai?" he swirled a finger at Sharpe.

"Yes! Now, come along, pig. We're going to the mess hall."Johann jumped up excidedly, suddenly full of extra energy. The kitchens were in the mess hall, so mess hall meant food. They went back through the white hallways, out the boulder, across the scorching plaza, and into the wing accross from them. Johann looked at the yellow tile beneath his feet. The coolness was welcome from the burning concrete, and he remembered something. While it would probably get him in trouble, he didn't really care. Anything was better than the solitude of that room.

"Follow the yellow brick road. Follow the, follow the, follow the, follow the, follow the yellow brick-" he sang, skipping, but was cut off when Sharpe smacked the back of his head.

"Shut up." he said coldly. They continued the rest of the walk in silence, Johann keeping as far away from Sharpe as he possibly could. When they were inside the large room, Sharpe shoved Johann down into a seat and left to go get food for him. The boy stared at him, eager to eat. He bit down hard on his thumb; Sharpe had started chatting with the person serving. He laughed. Johann rested his forehead on the table, as Sharpe clearly had no intention on getting him anything. He straightened up, deciding to see how many of his ribs he could count.

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7-" he stopped abruptly, looking around sacredly. He let out a yelp and skittered beneath the table, curling into himself in a fetal position, whimpering. There was the sound of running, and a pair of shoes stopped next to him.

"Jani?" someone asked, crouching down to peer at him. "What are you doing?"

"I heard a bee." he whispered.

"A... bee?"

Johann uncurled himself. "You know I'm allergic to bees!" he scrambled out.

"Don't they have one of those medicne pen thingiemajiggies?" The new person asked, blowing black hair out of his eyes.

"You don't know what they're called?" Johann asked.

"Nope."

Johann sighed, then plopped back down at the table, crossing his arms on the top and resting his head on them.

Mordecai poked him. "Jani?" He shook his shoulder. "Asleep, eh? Me, too." Then he sat down across from his freind and fell asleep too.

xxxXXXxxx

"Hey, look! The pigs are sleeping!" A man dressed similarly to Sharpe laughed from across the room.

"Eh?" The biggest one, the leader, it seemed, glanced at them and burst out laughing. "Do you remember, Crawlings, how we got them?" He asked him between chuckles.

Crawlings laughed again as well. "Oh yes!"

The leader looked around at the group. "It was the middle of winter, and, for some reason, they were running around in their swim trunks..."

_"Wooohooo!" a boy shrieked, hitting a bump and rolling off his sled, skidding a couple more feet in the snow before stopping and sitting up dazedly. "That was FUN!_

_There was another loud shriek of joy as his friend slammed into him. A girl watched from a park bench._

_"Come on, guys!" she called. "You're gonna get frostbite!"_

_"Ah, we'll be fine!" Johann assured her, getting up. "We haven't been out here THAT long."_

_"I know." the girl sighed. "But I still worry."_

_"Like I said, we'll be- UNF!" he let out a grunt as Mordecai careened into him again. _

_"Sorry," he chuckled. Johann moaned._

_"Are you okay?" the girl asked worriedly, hurrying over to her friend and helping him up. "You must be freezing! Come on, I'm bringing you guys home!" she tugged on his arm. _

_"Who's THAT?" Mordecai asked suddenly, pointing to somewhere behind them. They whirled. Standing by the sidewalk were two tall men, wearing business suits and carrying breifcases. When they saw them looking, they waved happily and began to walk casually towards the teenagers._

_"Hello, duckies!" the shorter man called. "A bit cold to be outside in your swimsuits, don't you think?"_

_"Uhhh..." Johann stuttered. He knew he shouldn't be talking to these men, but they seemed so friendly..._

_"Why don't we go down the street, get some hot cocoa. Our treat." the taller man said._

_"N-no thanks, we need to get home anyways," the girl tugged more insistently on his arm._

_"Yeah... we should go..." Mordecai said, backing away. "Let's go, Sherieot." he picked up his sled and they began to walk away, towards the two men._

_"Now, now, little chicks, don't go!" the shorter one stepped in front of them, and they noticed he was missing an eyebrow. "Would you like to know the time? Because we have watches," the man said, and he and his friend began shaking their cuffs so that they slid up their arms, revealing large silver watches._

_The children gave them confused looks._

_There was a whining sound, the air crackled with energy, and the children found themselves dazed and on the cold ground. Then the ground was pulled out from under them, the whoosh of air, and they were set down on something soft and warm. There was the sound of a car door closing, then the rumble of an engine._

_Sherieot opened her eyes, but found it hard. She was so sleepy... NO! She had to stay awake! But it was also warm... But these men had just kidnapped them, she shouldn't be falling asleep in their car. With a sigh, she resigned herself to sleep and snuggled deeper into the upholstery._

_xxxXXXxxx_

_Mordecai groaned, rubbing his neck. He had slept on it funny, and now it had a kink. He opened his eyes. He was in a limousine, and the windows were tinted. There were eleven people, he counted, him, Johann, Sherieot, his parents, Johann's parents, Sherieot's parents, and Johann's brothers. He wished he could see where they were, or at least how long they had been out. If they were out long enough, they could easily be in Tennissee. _

_He abruptly reached over and shook the figure beside him, one of Johann's siblings. "Erich! Wake up!" _

_Erich opened his eyes slowly, then stared at his acquaintance coldly. "What."_

_"We've been **kidnapped!**" _

_"Don't you think I've noticed that?" Erich glared at him, then punched the person on his other side. "Get up, Frederich." Frederich mewled, then opened his eyes._

_"Don't call me Frederich!" he whined. "Call me Hansi."_

_"Whatever. WAKE UP." Erich screamed, and there was a general outcry of people being rudely yanked into consciousness._

_Johann glared at his brother. "Why'd you wake me up?!" _

_"So we can get out of here, idiot." Erich rolled his eyes as he said this, and they felt the car come to a stop. _

_"I guess we're getting out of here." _

_The door opened, and the shorter man from before stuck his head in. "Hello, duckies! I see you're all awake! Come with us." he beckoned them welcomingly outside. His captives looked at him warily, but got out nonetheless. A group of similar men stood outside in a circle, waiting for them. The men urged them on, towards the buildings in front of them._

_The Institute. They were at the Institute. This meant they were still in Stonetown; still in North Carolina. Not even an hour from the park they had been at. It had been closed down two years ago, and no one knew why. Then the Emergency had ended, and the economy bloomed. And Kate still hadn't returned. _


	3. Hiatus

**I am sorry to announce that this story, and a few of my others, are going on an indefinite hiatus. I am trying to write so many stories at once, and I simply do not have the time to continue all of them.**

**I do hope you understand. **

**~ |: zuzu**


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